


A Matter of Trust

by storyhaus



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: San Diego
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-03-06 22:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 12,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18859963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storyhaus/pseuds/storyhaus
Summary: When Nick's new team is attacked he searches for the culprit while also dealing with a possible embezzler inside the lab.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love that Nick is the Director and wanted to do some stories about that. This is the first fic.

A Matter of Trust

CSI: San Diego 2015

Chapter 1

3:45 A.M.

Nick Stokes pulled up to the crime scene, there were several police cars and three ambulances there already.

An officer lifted the police tape and Nick ducked under it heading for the dilapitated house.

Gayle Taylor-McClinn, grave shift supervisor, was the first to see him and made a hole for him to enter the house.

Nick paused and pulled booties on before stepping inside to the bloody crime scene with his people right in the middle of it all.

An EMT was working on Officer Layron Lawson, who had been shot multiple times.

Nick's eyes went to another EMT who was tending to Eduardo "Eddie" Kyle, one of Nick's level 3 CSI's who also had been shot multiple times.

Officer Caroline Storm held a bloody hand up to her shoulder but she was upright and conscious talking to a medic.

Nick stepped aside as the EMT's rushed Officer Lawso to one of the ambulances.

The second group of EMT's was preparing to take Eddie out as well.

"You're gonna be alright Eddie. You're gonna be alright." Nick told the unconscious man as he was rolled past.

"Ma'am, we need to get you to the hospital." He heard and looked over at a medic talking to Sharla Joyce, level 1 CSI, staring at nothing.

He went over, avoiding the blood on the floor and knelt beside her.

"Shar, honey..." He said gently.

"Eddie..." She stuttered looking at Nick.

"He's alive Shar, he's going to the hospital. Let the medics take care of you now okay?" He soothed helping her to her feet, "Gayle's gonna go with you okay?" He looked at gayle who nodded. "Come on Shar." Nick said and helped her out of the house and to the ambulance. "Stay with her and keep me updated on Eddie." He requested.

"Will do Director." She nodded and got into the ambulance with Shar and Officer Storm.

Nick watched the ambulance go and pulled out his phone scrolling down his contact list until he found the number he wanted.

Taking a deep breath he make the call to Shar's husband.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The six foot four blond level 2 CSI Beau Foster waited until Nick had finished his calls then stepped up to him.

"We want to work this case boss."

Nick turned and saw all of his graveshift team nodding.

He took a breath, he of all people understood their need to find out who was behind this attack just like he and his team did when Warrick was murdered.

"Beau and Bonita work the inside, call Cane and Tawny for the outside." He ordered.

"Yes sir." Bonita pulled her phone and made the calls. then they got to work.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4:35 A.M.

Nick led the elderly couple inside the hospital, he'd personally picked them up after making the difficult call to them, they found Gayle and she filled them in then a nurse appeared.

"Mister Kyle took three bullets to the torso. We're working on removing them and assessing the damage. I'll be back to let you know how the surgery is going." She told them.

"Will our Eduardo be alright?"

Nick knew that's all Mrs. Juarez, Eddie's grandmother was concerned about.

"We're going our best to make that happen." The nurse replied.

"Make sure we get the bullets please." Nick requested.

"Will do. I need to get back inside."She nodded and disappeared through the doors.

"Stay with them. Get them anything they need. If you need to go make sure someone else is here for them. How is Shar?"

"In shock. They cleaned her up and sedated her. She's in room 315, Rob is with her. Nick...Officer Lawson didn't make it."

"Damn." Nick shook his head.

"Officer Storm is going to be okay though." She added.

"Thanks for keeping track of them for me, keep me updated on Eddie. I'm going to check on Shar then head back to the scene."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick looked inside Shar's room and found her asleep, he saw who must have been her husband Rob sitting by her bedside and turned to go so as not the disturb them.

"Director Stokes?" The man softly called and walked over to him.

"Nick Stokes." He offered his hand the man shook it.

"Rob Joyce, thank you for calling me yourself." 

"How is she?" Nick looked at his CSI.

"Shaken up. What happened?"

"Someone opened fire at the scene, I don't have any details at this time."

"This was intentional?" Rob frowned.

"I really can't say, we've just started the investigation. If either of you need anything please let Gayle know, she in the waiting room with Eddie's grandparents."

"How is he?"

"In surgery."

"Please find out who is responsible for this." 

"We will." Nick promised.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5:30 A.M.

Nick met Sheriff Albert Benedict back at the scene, he got along well with the 6'2" older, balding lawman, he didn't play games, Nick appreciated being told things straight up.

"What was the initial call out?" Nick asked.

"Gunshots fired. Officers arrived on scene and saw the blood then called your people out." Bureau Chief Clare Stanton replied.

"Did we get any shots off?" Nick asked.

"Officer Storm says no." The Sheriff answered.

Nick nodded, slipped on another pair of booties and entered the house.

"Hey boss, how are they?" Bonita Cruz-Lopez, level 3 CSI asked.

Nick filled them all in on what he knew.

"I'm going to take a walk through." He said and looked at the coagulated blood pool.

If this was the initial call out then someone had to have left a trail...

He found a trail that led to the kitchen, opening the back door he used his flashlight illuminating drops on the edge of the doorsill, he began looking in the grass and diligently followed them around the side of the house and to the street in the front.

He envisioned a car pulling up and the injured man getting inside then the car speeding off.

"What do you have?" The Sheriff asked walking over as Nick looked down the street.

"Blood trail." Nick replied shining his flashlight on it for the Sheriff to see.

"So, what?, the guy gets shot, holes up here until his posse can come...whoever shot him learns he still alive and comes up to finish the job cops and CSI's be damned?" The Sheriff asked.

"It's a theory." Nick shrugged, "the evidence will tell us if it's right or not."

"I want to help Nick." Bryan Ellis, level 3 CSI, dayshift came up to them.

"Take overalls of the blood trail, it starts at the pool inside." Nick said and Ellis nodde heading into the house.

"I may not personally care for the burea chief, but she knows how to handle the press." The Sheriff nodded.

Nick looked over to where Clare Staton was talking to local reporters.

The woman could be abrasive, he'd found that out in their weekly meetings, but if she could keep the press out of the way and let them do their jobs and find out who was responsible, more power to her, Nick thought.

Nick went back inside and looked around the house.

Abandoned and full of trash.

He pulled his phone out and called Rich Emmanuel, dayshift supervisor, requesting a few CSI's to collect everything in the house for analysis.

"We're done with the livingroom." Bonita informed him.

"I'm having Rich send some guys for collection."

"You really think this trash will tell us anything?" 

"Won't know unless we examine it." 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rich, Eric Ranier and Jamie Plant, both level 2 CSI's arrived a short time later.

Nick headed home to shower and feed Sam.

He had been in the office two hours, fielding questions from lab technicians and other CSI's not working the scene their colleagues were injured at.

He received a text from Doctor Tui, head dayshift coroner and headed down to the morgue.

 

"Long night." Doc said.

"No kidding." Nick sighed.

"Three bullets, two to the chest, one to the leg. The leg bullet was the killshot, it hit Officer Lawson in the femoral artery and he bled out in minutes." The coroner reported.

"It ust have happened early on, the others were taking cover...they probably never even noticed." Nick said looking at the slain officer on the autopsy table.

"We will find out who did this, I promise you Officer Lawson." 

Doc Tui squeezed his shoulder and handed him the jar of bullets.

Nick headed back upstairs and dropped them off with ballistics.

As much as he wanted to work on nothing more than this case he had other responsibilities so he returned to his office and filled out paperwork ad read over other case reports in his IN box.

His Tuesday lunch meeting with the Sheriff and Bureau Chief would come soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 2

9:30 A.M.

Nick got another mug of coffee and ran into Malachi Yubari, graveshift assistant supervisor.

"Grave still here?" Nick asked.

The Arab-American nodded tiredly.

"I want y'all to go home and get some sleep." Nick ordered.

"Eddie--"

"Days can take over. Go."

"Okay boss." Mal nodded, yawned and left the breakroom.

Nick texted Rich telling him to take over the case then pass it back off to grave when they come on again.

He received a text from Cara saying she fed Sam and thanking him for the money.

Nick felt lucky John's daughter agreed to feed and walk Sam on the mornings he didn't accompany Nick to work.

Nick usually arrived at 4:30 A.M. and worked until 5:30 P.M. or so allowing him to cover both shifts to some degree.

Smothering his own yawn, he'd been up since 3:30, he grabbed and apple and a water, heading for his office but making a stop at ballistics first.

"They get back with the bullets yet?"

"No, I can call and see how far they are." Lori Kolp, day shift ballistic expert answered.

"Uh, no, I don't want them to feel rushed, it's tough enough for them as it is." Nick answered and left.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At noon Nick locked up and went to grab some lunch after texting Rich, who's team was still at the scene.

He then called the hospital and learned Sharla had been released and that Eddie was in critical condition in the ICU.

Nick arrived at the scene twenty minutes later with sandwiches and drinks for everyone.

"Damn you're a good boss. Thanks." Jamie Plant said.

"How close are y'all to finishing the scene?" Nick asked as they ate.

"I'd say we have another hour for bullets." Eric Ranier answered for he and Letitia Daily who had taken over for graveshift.

"We're almost done with trash collection." Rich answered.

"Okay," Nick turned to Bryan Ellis, "blood trail?"

"I'm done, I'll run it to the lab for analysis."

"Alright, when shifts over I want you all to head home and get some sleep." Nick ordered.

They finished their lunch and returned to work.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick checked his watch.

Time to close up shop for the day.

After shutting down his computer he placed his files in his satchel, locked his door and headed for the front of the lab.

"Have you signed off on those vendors orders yet?"

"Uh...no, sorry Jerry. I'll, uh, take care of it tomorrow. I promise."

He heard Jerry sigh but Nick was tired and right then vendors orders wasn't a priority and Jerry would have to wait.

"I'll see you in the morning." Nick bade his assistant director and went home.


	3. Chapter 3

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 3

After Nick ate, fed Sam and walked him he pulled out his laptop and files and picked up where he left off at the office.

He pulled the third file over and shook his head.

"Looks like you'll get it in the morning Jerry." Nick uttered and looked over the order form.

A frown marred his face and he jotted down an item from the form on the legal pad from his satchel then checked the time, still early yet, so he put the order form aside and picked up another case file.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 10:30 he picked up his cell phone and pulled his contact list up.

'Nick?'

"Hey Goose, how much did you say a Sciex-Elan 6100 Mass Spectrometer cost?"

' $ 35,000. Why?'

"Who does the lab buy that stuff from?"

'Barstow Supply out of Barstow, California. Again, why?'

"Thanks." Nick said and hung up, he logged into the Barstow Supply company's website.

Nick spent the rest of the night comparing the order form prices to the sites item prices.

In the end he'd found three discrepencies that he highlighted.

All those vendors catalogs I go in the mail this last month ought to help in my research.

The first day he set foot in his new office he found a pile of mail on his desk, there were fifteen vendors catalogs alone.

He decided then and there to buy a recycling bin then spent the rest of the day personalizing his office, putting pictures out and posters on the wall of Dallas and Las Vegas.

Both were going away gifts from his friends, along with a shadow box containing his vest, I.D. and photographs of his eighteen years in Las Vegas which Russell and Ecklie had presented to him.

It had surprised him how supportive Ecklie was of his taking the Director's position, even offering to answer my questions about the job.

It took him a few days but everything had been settled in his office, his old couch and chair and a metal locker for Sam's food and bowls along with spare clothes and a shaving kit were stored there.

Photographs of his team mates, all three incarnations, sat on the low filing cabinets behind his desk.

Pictures of he and Eli and he and Cassie were taped to the locker.

"Is Castlebrook Supply charging more?"

Nick went onto their website and located the items.

"Huh..." Nick uttered, "something is rotten in the city of San Diego, to praphrase Mister William Shakespeare."

Looks like I need to put my CSI cap on for this.

Nick made a copy of the order form and printed it out, he signed the original and placed it next to the completed case files then returned to translating the other case files for his bosses.

Better pay, the beach...along with longer hours and a lot more paperwork, he sighed and concentrated knowing he had a few more hours yet before calling it a night.

As the clock chimed eleven times he shut his laptop down, gathered the files and placed everything in his satchel along with the order form he'd copied then headed to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 4

Day 2

"Good morning sir." Marsha Brady, the grave shift receptionist greeted him as he walked into the lab at 4:30 a.m.

"Marsha." He nodded and headed to his office where he dropped his satchel off then went to the breakroom to grab a mug of coffee.

"Are you working on the bullets?" He asked Hill Prescott, the 6'6" African-American grave shift ballistics technician.

"Yeah, they collected over 200 casings just outside and another 62 in the house." The man slightly older than Nick sighed.

"So far we've processed 89 of them."

"Just keep at it, we'll need all this information to locate a suspect." Nick clapped his shoulder.

"Yes sir." Hill nodded.

Nick's next stop was Trace.

"Talk to me Andi." He said to the tall, dark haired, grey eyed woman.

"Here's Tommy's report." She handed the day shifts results to him.

"Look at all these prints." Nick sighed.

"We've sent what we have to Gary." She told him.

Nick nodded and headed to talk to Gary Ranger, his day shift fingerprint technician.

He found the blond man drumming his fingers on the table.

"You're here early." Nick frowned.

"Blake called, she had an emergency but knew you'd want to get the prints run asap."

"And?"

"AFIS is down. They tanked two hours ago, someone unleashed a virus on them." Gary sighed.

"They can't be done by hand because we have no suspects to compare them to." Nick frowned.

"And so I wait." Gary nodded.

"You don't think whoever shot Eddie and killed Officer Lawson released the virus do you?" Nick wondered at the coincidence.

"Anything is possible but it's pretty unlikely sir." Gary shrugged.

"Okay, as soon as it's back get me some names." Nick requested.

"Will do sir."

Nick headed to his own office, it was 5:15 a.m.

Deciding to do a little snooping he used his master key to unlocked the assistant supervisors door and turned on the lights, he walked over to the filing cabinet and started searching, it took a little while but he located the equipment order forms from the previous year.

Taking the stack of papers back to his own office, keeping an eye on the clock, Jerry always arrived at 8 sharp, he printed copies of the forms.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 7:55 he returned the forms to Jerry's office cabinet and returned to his own office after making sure he turned the lights out and relocked the door so Jarry would be none the wiser.

Nick placed the copies in his satchel and started going over the case files in his IN box.

Ten minutes later, as he was immersed in work work Jerry strode into his office.

"Did you sign the order forms Director?" Jerry asked.

"Right here." Nick handed them over.

"Thank you, I'll get thistaken care of today." Jarry said and left.

Nick pulled the labs yearly budget up and made a copy of it as well placing it in his satchel then returned to his work of translating the cases for his bosses.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9:45 A.M.

"All the trash from the scene is processed boss." Tommy Bucchio, the day shift Trace technician handed him the report.

"Now we just need AFIS to rid of their virus so we can identify some possible suspects." Nick said looking it over.

"We've got DNA hits." Rich said from the doorway.

Nick and Tommy followed him to the DNA lab where Carol Bishop, the blond DNA expert was.

"Give me some good news Carol." Nick requested.

"Don't know if it's good but we got hits on multiple semen deposits found in the house." She said and brought the contributors up on her screen.

"Angelou DeJesus, Luca DeHoya and Pedro Martinez." Nick read aloud.

"There was vaginal fluid as well but no hits." She added.

"Thanks Carol, Tommy, good work." Nick said and went to Gary's lab.

"Hey boss, still down." Gary told him.

"Well, I got good news and bad news." Nick replied.

"I could use some good news." The taller man answered.

"We've identified three seminal contributors."

"If they're in the system their prints will be on file but AFIS is still down." Gary frowned at the computer.

"Gary," Nick pulled his cell phone out, " we go old school." He said and called the Sheriff.

 

Fifteen minutes later Officer Jan Perry delivered the mens ten cards.

"We have to check the prints we found against the three guys ten cards? When is the last time you did this sir?" Gary asked feeling overwhelmed.

"Three years ago. Power was out in Vegas and we had a missing boy. Before that? Probably 2004. Let's get to work." Nick said pulling a lab coat on and donning his reading glasses.


	5. Chapter 5

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 5

11:00 A.M.

"Anybody seen the boss? We finally finished logging the bullets." Lori Kolp said sticking her head into the breakroom.

"He and Gary are going over prints." Leo Campbell, their questionable documents expert answered.

"I thought AFIS was down." Lori frowned.

"It is, they're using the scopes." 

"Wow!" She breathed out a breath.

"Yeah, they're earning their paycheck big time." He agreed.

Lori looked at the report in her hand and quickly left.

If they can do that I can look for prints on the bullets too.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1:00 P.M.

"Okay, let's take a break." Nick removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"You used to do this all the time?" Gary asked squeezing his eyes shut.

"Not me personally, that was poor Mandy's job." Nick answered, "I'm gonna grab a coffee, you want one?"

"Yeah, thanks boss." Gary rubbed his own eyes and nodded.

Nick went to the breakroom and pour two mugs of Blue Hawaiian coffee, he'd sprung for the good stuff after tasting what they drank.

Grabbing an apple he took several bites before disposing of it and returning to the print lab with the java.

"Hey boss, I got several prints from the bullets." Lori said catching up to him.

"Good, when AFIS is back up we can compare them to our sperm donors." He nodded as they walked into the print lab.

"You guys need a hand?" She offered.

"Yes." Gary nodded finishing his sandwich.

Nick smirked, handed Gary the mug of coffee then they got back to work.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Done." Lori said, "no matches to my cards."

"I got one...I think." Gary shrugged rubbing his eyes.

Nick glanced at his watch.

"Damn. Sorry guys, didn't realize it was so late." He apologized seeing it was nearly four p.m.

"Go on home." He ordered.

"See you tomorrow boss." Lori nodded and headed out.

Gary smothered a yawn, hung up his lab coat and departed too.

Nick straightened up the lab, keeping the ten cards that might match on the top of the pile.

I sure hope AFIS is back tomorrow, he sighed, slid off his glasses , removed his lab coat then headed to his office where he loaded his satchel with the files from his IN box and headed for home.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Sam was taken care of and Nick ate he worked on the files for a few hours then opened all the mail.

There were more vendor's catalogs, a couple of speaking invitations and a package.

John had told him there was public speaking involved in the job, civic's groups, schools, various other organizations, he was glad they were interested in criminalistics and maybe some of them would be the next generation of CSI's.

He pulled the package over and carefully slit the tape on the top of the box seeing no return address, he cautiously lifted the box lid and saw a note which he pulled out.

'Heard you left Harold in Las Vegas, here's Harold Junior. Congratulations Nicky, Grissom.'

Nick smiled and pulled out the fetal pig preserved in formaldehyde.

Only Gris would send me a pig to congratulate me on my new job...I know just where to put him.

A few minutes later Nick opened his laptop and started working on the prior years vendor's order form as the television droned in the background.

His attention was caught when the reporter said there were no new leads in the case of the attack against SDPD personnel.

Actually we have three leads, just need to see if they match our evidence.

Seeing it was after 11 p.m. he shut his laptop down and headed to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 6

Day 3

4:30 A.M.

Grabbing a mug of coffee, Nick checked in with the grave shift.

They still had pending cases as well as new ones he neded their updates on.

Blake Sawyer, his grave shift finger print technicain gave him the good news that AFIS was finally back up and running and the prints of the three seminal donors were being compared to the ones Lori found on the bullets.

"Let me know the results either way." He requested of her and sent a text to the bureau chief requesting the men be brought in for questioning.

_Even if they weren't responsible maybe they know who is._

He placed his satchel on the couch and put Harold junior on the side bookcase with his forensics journals, entomology books and aviary reference materials were.

Sitting at his desk he took a sip of coffee and got to work on reports that neded to be finished from the night before and what was in his IN box this morning already.

He had a lunch meeting with his bosses and he wished the police chief would put a liaison in place already, Bureau Chief Stanton said that was the plan.

His thoughts turned to Bureau Chief Stanton, she was always impatient to get their meetings over with and not wanting any technical explanations which was Nick's job...to translate so she could give it to her bosses.

He was immersed in work when day shift supervisor Rich Emmanuel stopped by.

"Detective Markovich is bringing in our three donors." He let Nick know.

"I think I'll head over there and listen in." Nick shut his laptop down and rose.

"I'll drive." Rich nodded and they left the lab.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9:30 a.m.

Detective Valentina Markovich sat across from Angelou DeJesus interrogating him.

Rich leaned against the wall looking through the glass listening in.

Nick watched their 'suspect' swear he had nothing to do with the shootings.

He and his boys were just using the house to score with the ladies and he didn't know anything about anybody else who used the house or was shot their before. He didn't know of anyone who had been shot, hadn't heard anything about it on the streets.

Nick watched the same scene play out with Luca DeHoya and Pedro Martinez.

None of the trio knew anything about what happened to the officers and his CSI's.

Nick blew out a frustrated breath.

"I tend to believe them." Detective Markovich said when they met up.

"It was a long shot anyway. Lori texted me, their prints weren't on the bullets or shell casings." He showed them the text.

"i hate to say it but we're on a stand still boss." Rich said.

Nick nodded reluctantly, he hated letting someone get away with shooting SDPD personnel but they were out of leads.

"Alright, we'll put it aside...for now." Nick agreed.

"I'll cut them loose." The detective replied and left them.

"Let's head back to the lab." Nick motioned and Rich led him out.

 

11:30 a.m.

Nick got into his truck to head to the hospital once they'd gotten back from the police station.

He was going to check on Eddie and Sharla, when he arrived he found out Sharla had been released so Nick decided he stop by and see her after work.

"Please come in Director Stokes." Eddie's grandmother said as he stood in the doorway taking in his grave shift CSI's condition.

"How is he?" Nick asked walking over to the bed.

"He's stable but in a coma." She answered patting Eddie's hand.

"I'm sorry I haven't been back since it happened." He apologized.

"You're a busy man, trying to find out who did this to my nieto (grandson)."

"Yes, I am." He met her eyes.

"Would you mind staying with Eduardo? I want to get some tea."

"Take your time." Nick nodded and she made her way out of the hospital room.

Nick sighed and looked at the unconscious man.

"Hey Eddie, I'm sorry to tell you we hit a dead end. We've got no suspects. I hate not being able to tell you we got the guys who did this to you, but I promise you I won't let this fall by the wayside. You and Shar are my people and you were hurt. I will find out who did this."

"Oh! Director." Gayle said coming in with a cup of coffee.

"Hey, thanks for looking after his grandparents."

"My boss requested it, he's pretty nice that way." She smiled then grew serious, "the investigation?"

Nick told her where they stood.

"I hate that this could go cold case." She said.

"It'll never be a cold case as far as I'm concerned." Nick assured her.

"Thank you." Gayle nodded.

"They said Shar went home?"

"Yesterday afternoon. I should have called you, I'm sorry." She apologized.

"I should have come by yesterday to check on them." Nick shook his head and sighed.

"I don't envy you boss, having to keep on top of everything." Gayle replied.

"I didn't realize what all this job entailed. I think John suckered me." He joked.

"Thank you for staying Director." Mrs. Juarez said returning with her tea.

"You're welcome, I need to get back to work. I'll stop by again tomorrow if I can." Nick promised and walked out with Gayle, "If there's any change..."

"I will let you know immediately." She promised.


	7. Chapter 7

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 7

12:30 P.M.

Nick knocked on the door and Rob answered.

"Shar, your boss is here." He called, letting Nick inside.

"Sorry I didn't stop by the hospital yesterday." Nick apologized.

"I know you're busy sir. Did you catch them?" Sharla asked hugging her sweater around her.

"The evidence hasn't produced any suspects...yet." Nick replied.

"Oh." Sharla dropped her head, Rob placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not sure I can do this job anymore sir." She said softly.

"Not long after I became a level 3 my supervisor and I had a case with a skeleton found in concrete, using facial recognition we identified her. She'd disappeared five years before and our investigation led to her ex-boyfriend. We went to his house and the evidence we had found led us to believe it was the scene of her death."

"My supervisor told me to get started on processing while he escorted the ex-boyfriend to the police car. Now the guy was married and as I went to get my kit I noticed some photo's of he and his wife rock climbing...the object used to kill the woman left odd teeth marks and I realized the climbing axe in the photo's had the same teeth as the marks on our victim." Nick told her making sure Sharla was listening.

"The next sound I heard was the hammer of a gun being cocked...I turned and found the wife pointing the weapon at me. She said she was sorry but she'd have to kill me too.

"Shar, I was so scared. I really thought I was going to die in the next few minutes. I know what's it's like to be afraid...I've had a few close calls in my career, the thing is...if you walk away you've given them the power and you can't do that Sharla. Trust me on this. 

"Take a few days then come back to work. Give it three weeks Shar, if you want to walk away then I will accept that. Will you do that for me?"

"I don't know if I can." She admitted.

"I just want you to try." Nick took her hand.

"Can she think about it?" Rob asked.

Nick nodded and rose.

"I really want you to come back Shar." NIck said and left.


	8. Chapter 8

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 8

1:15 P.M.

Nick grabbed a sandwich on his way back to his office.

The folders in my IN box never seem to go down, he sighed and settled in to work.

His cell phone rang a short time later.

"Stokes. Hey Eli." Nick smiled hearing the boys voice.

He could never tell his best friends son just how much he'd needed to hear from him right now.

They talked for a good half an hour then Nick hung up and decided to call it a day and head for home.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karyn tried starting her truck again then got out and popped the hood as she'd seen her husband do trying to figure out why it wouldn't start.

She'd barely started looking when her four year old son started crying.

With a sigh she retrieved her toddler from his car seat and went back to the engine and gasped.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. Is it not working?" Nick asked her.

"Yeah." Karen nodded keeping her distance.

"Let me take a look. I'm Nick Stokes by the way, I live across the street."

"Karen Baxter, this is Riley." 

"Hey bud." Nick smiled at the boy.

"We we're going to get groceries, my husband is due home from deployment in a few days and it won't start."

"I'm guessing he's Navy?" Nick asked looking at the car.

"Most of the people around here are." She nodded.

"I see the problem. I don't suppose you have a spare alternator-water-pump belt?"

She looked at him blankly.

"Okay." He chuckled, "how about a pair of panty hose?"

"Panty hose?" She asked suspiciously.

"It's a temporarily fix. You need to go to the autoparts store from here and get a new belt."

Karyn nodded and went into the house, she located a pair of old panty hose and gave them to Nick.

He used his knife and cut a leg off then wrapped it tight around the correct spindles, stretched it and tied it tight.

"Start her up." Nick said.

Karyn reached in and turned the key and it started.

"Thank you so much." Karyn breathed relieved.

"That's how it's done big guy." Nick smiled at the toddler.

Karyn quickly buckled the toddler in while Nick shut the hood.

"Again, thank you so much Mister Stokes."

"Call me Nick and you're welcome. Auto parts store." He reminded as she got into the truck.

"I will." She nodded and drove off.

It felt good to help someone today, the smile was still on his face as he went into his house.


	9. Chapter 9

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 9

Day 6

It was Thursday morning and NIck was dressing for work but not in his usual jeans and dress shirt.

Today he wore a suit, he would be attending Officer Lawson's funeral.

Sam watched him and whined softly.

Nick gave him a quick pet then finished dressing.

At work he got caught up with the most recent cases and filled out reports until 11 a.m.

 

Parking along the curb he walked over to the mourners and stood beside the Sheriff.

"You brought your dog?" Sheriff Benedict frowned.

"Sam's a retired K-9 officer." Nick said as the service started.

If anyone in attendance expected Sam to bark or carry on they were disappointed.

Sam sat quietly beside Nick the entire time.

As Nick offered his condolences to Lawson's family the man's young son smiled at Sam.

"You can pet him." Nick smiled, "Sam here's a retired officer."

"Really?" The boy asked stroking Sam's coat.

"Thank you for coming Director Stokes." Mrs. Lawson shook his hand, "and for bring your K-9 officer to pay his respects as well."

"Please accept my condolences Mrs. Lawson. I din't know your husband well or long for that matter but I feel the loss of a fellow law enforcement officer even in the short time I've been here."

Mrs. Lawson nodded and patted his arm.

Nick moved on so the Sheriff could pay his respects as well.

Nick and Sam walked slowly among the grave stones, the found a bench and Nick sat with a sigh.

"Anything on the shooters?" The Sheriff asked joining him.

"No," Nick sighed, "the fingerprint we got off the bullets didn't turn up in AFIS or any other database."

"I hate not knowing who did this."

"Me too." Nick agreed.


	10. Chapter 10

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 10

Nick returned to the lab and worked on reports for a while then turned to his personal investigation of the vendor's reports before calling it a day at 2 p.m. and heading home where he changed and walked Sam.

Feeling unsettled he headed to the hospital.

Nick knocked on the doorjamb of Eddie's room making his grandfather look over.

"Director Stokes, please come in."

"No change?" He asked walking over.

"Eduardo is still in a coma. The doctor's say that is not a bad thing." Mister Juarez replied.

"How is the case going?" He asked.

"Unfortunately it's not. We're out of suspects at the moment." Nick admitted.

"So the people who did this will get away." The elderly man's shoulders sagged.

"Don't give up on us Mister Juarez." 

"I know that sometimes they get away." The elderly man replied.

"As far as I am concerned this case is still very active Mister Juarez. We will find these animals."

"Thank you Director." Mrs. Juarez said returning to her family.

Nick nodded, took a long look at Eddei then headed back home where he called Mrs. Findley.

 

As Nick laid in bed that night his thoughts wouldn't let him sleep.

_We have evidence but no suspects and I have an employee possibly embezzling._

_Is this what Grissom dealt with?_

_Rick's gambling._

_Sara's outbursts._

_Cath's exes._

_My involvement with Kristy...and letting slip case details to a frat brother who sold it to the press._

With a deep sigh he closed his eyes and willed his mind to settle.


	11. Chapter 11

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 11

Nick poured a mug of coffee and sipped it, he hadn't gotten much sleep, his brain took a long time to shut down and it seemed like he'd just dozed off when his alarm went off.

The microwave pinged and he removed his breakfast burrito, ate it quickly then headed to work.

"Morning sir."

"Sharla." He smiled seeing her.

"I haven't been out yet, Gayle's trying to ease me back into it. The truth is I'm terrified." She admitted.

"I know you are, but you're here. You took the first step to come back." Nick said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"If you want to talk my door is open." He told her.

"Thank you." She nodded gratefully. 

"Can I ask you something?"

Nick nodded expecting what the question was.

"What happened with the woman holding the gun on you? Did she shoot you?"

"No. My boss realized it wasn't her husband who killed our victim, he was out of town and his wife, who was his girlfriend at the time is the one who set his schedule. My boss came back in and talked her down...he saved my life."

"There you are, I found something on your vics laptop." Ben Cooper, the gravehift audo/visual technician said to Sharla.

"See you later boss." Sharla said and followed Ben.

Nick smiled and sat down to start his day.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next summary finished printing and Nick organized the papers for the sheriff and police chief.

As a CSI he'd had plenty of paperwork but not like this.

Pulling the next file over he began to read.

 

At noon he left his offfice to grab a snack.

"You need a home cooked meal sir."

"It's no fun cooking for yourself Grace."

"I make extra on Sunday's, I'll bring you some Monday."

"I won't say no to that, thank you." He smiled at the day shift receptionist as they walked down the hall to the breakroom.

Nick grabbed an apple and a water, he'd brought the apples and water for everyone to share, then ate and talked with Grace getting to know each other better.

"John mentioned your husband had had a triple by-pass. How is he doing now?" 

"Almost fully recovered. I've been cooking healthier meals and we've been walking after dinner."

"I'm glad to hear he's almost back to himself." Nick said sincerely.

"Thank you Director."

Grace Monroe was sixty-two years old and had worked at the crime lab for twenty-five years now, Nick was the third director she'd worked for.

The first was Sheriff Adler, he wasn't very likable and she secretly believed he'd hated his job.

The next director was John Nolan, married with a family.

She recalled how young and unsure he was, they all watched as his marriage fell apart.

Then his oldest daughter was murdered in Las Vegas.

When he'd announced he was retiring to be a full time father to his surviving daughter he'd told them he was leaving them in good hands with Nick...even though Nick hadn't agreed to the job at that point.

She knew John would work on him until he did.

"Can I ask you why you decided to take the job?"

"A colleague of mine was critically injured by the serial killer we were after--"

"The reason you and your colleagues were here." She nodded.

"Right, I was going to turn John down because it didn't feel right to take the job with Finn in a coma and all but John called my boss who told me that Finn would tell me to, 'get my ass on that plane and take the job'. So I did."

"I'm glad you're here." Grace smiled.

"Thank you." Nick answered gratefully then looked at his watch.

"Time for my meeting." He sighed, grabbed the files from his office and headed to the restaurant to have a working lunch with Sheriff Benedict and Bureau Chief Stanton.

Nick returned to the lab at 3:30, worked another hour then headed home for the weekend where he would work on his own project hoping to get closer to who was robbing the lab blind.


	12. Chapter 12

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 12

Two weeks had passed and they still had no new leads on those responsible for Officer Lawson's murder and wounding Eddie and Officer Storm which frustrated Nick.

"Stokes." He answered his cell phone. "Hey John...lunch? Yeah, I can make it. Okay, see you then." Nick hung up, drummed his fingers on the desk then texted several of his team members.

"You wanted to see us boss?" Rosalee Dupont asked as she and her colleagues arrived.

"None of you helped with the original investigation of our shootings right?" He asked.

"Um...no..." Rosalee frowned.

"Fresh eyes. Y'all have fresh eyes. Take a look at the evidence for anything we might have missed." He requested.

Rosalee nodded and led them out.

 

"You have new evidence?" Cane Walker, level 3 CSI asked walking in and seeing Rosalee, Zoe and Letitia with the previously collected evidence on the layout table.

"Boss wants a fresh look." Rosalee answered.

"Makes sense. I'll catch you all later." Cane said and went to drop of the evidence for his latest case, a boat explosion at the marina.

"Hey Tommy, find me something in all of this would you man?"

"Do my best as always CW." Tommy Bucchio replied.

Cane chuckled and left the bag with their trace technician.

His next stop was at Nick's office to drop off his preliminary report.

"You look swamped."

"It all seems to multiply overnight." Nick shook his head.

"Sorry I have to add to it boss." Cane handed him the file.

"Three people dead," Nick scanned the file, "we have a cause yet?'"

"Tommy is working on the evidence I recovered as we speak."

"Alright, keep me updated." Nick requested.

"Will do Nick." Cane nodded and left him.

"Do you have a minute Drector?"

"Find something Rosie?" Nick asked sliding his glasses off and giving her his full attention.

"No sir, this is personal." She replied and closed the door.

"Okay, what's up?"

"My husband Noah is a little person too," Rosalee explained as she climbed onto a chair.

"He needs to have surgery on his back so I need to request time off, I already cleared it with Rich." She told him.

"Okay, but Jerry handles the scheduling why come to me?"

"He's not very receptive." She said diplomatically.

"Did he refuse to give you the time off?" Nick frowned.

"He..." She started then closed her mouth.

"Go on." 

"Well...uh..."

"Off the record?" Nick asked.

"Jerry isn't very nice to us."

"Us?' Nick's frown deepened.

"There are a few of us he's...cool...to." She admitted.

"Who?"

"Sir, I don't--"

"Rosie, I can't change it if I don't know about it."

"Doctor Fong, Gary and Lori, those are just the ones I know about."

"Alright, I'll keep an eye on things. Thank you for being honest with me. When is your husband's surgery scheduled?"

"Next Friday, his recovery will take at least three weeks."

"Okay, I'll make sure you're cleared for it." Nick noted it on his calendar.

"Thank you sir." She said relieved.

"It's Nick and you're welcome."

She slid off the chair headed for the door where she turned.

"You've dealt with little people before haven't you?"

"We had an LPA convention in Vegas, had a murder too, my boss made sure I knew how to address y'all."

"You have less than a foot on me and we're different genders, that's all that separates us sir."

"Once I learn a lesson I never forget it Rosie. Besides, you are Assistant Supervisor after all." He smiled.

"Thank you...Nick." She returned the smile and left.

Nick worked another hour then closed up his office, picked up Sam and headed to John's for lunch.


	13. Chapter 13

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 13

"I made grilled turkey sandwiches for lunch." John said when they arrived.

"Sounds good." Nick nodded and followed him to the table, Sam settled on the floor beside them.

"So what's going on at the lab?' John asked. 

Nick knew he probably missed it but had no regrets in his decision to retire and take care of Cara.

"I found out Jerry seems to have some issues with some of his co-workers." He looked at John.

"No one ever mentioned anything to me." John frowned wondering if he hadn't been as approachable as he thought.

"Who's he giving trouble to?"

"Rosie, Gary, Fong and Lori that I know of."

"To him they're...different..."

"Different how?"

"Rosalee is a little person, Gary is gay, Doctor Fong is Chinese and Lori adopted a baby on her own." John told him.

"Not in my lab John." Nick shook his head.

"There's no way to prove he's discriminating against them though unless he outright says or does something in front of witnesses otherwise he'd have been called out before."

_Unfortunately John is right, unless Jerry says something prejudicial and it's in front of witnesses or taped there's nothing I can do, even if he's accused and invetigated, without evidence..._

Not giving Rosie the time off could be justified by scheduling in Jerry's book. 

"I'm gonna keep a close eye on this John." 

"I inherited him and he handled the scheduling and ordering so I just kept him on. Those first few years I was swamped."

"Gee thanks for telling me now!"

John chuckled and they finished lunch.

"Thanks for the grub, I need to get back."

"You're welcome. Nick, deal with Jerry now. I should have paid more attention to the crews interaction instead of all the administrative stuff.

"I came from a supervisory place but you're straight out of the trenches, that's what they need, someone who understands where they're coming from.

"I forgot what that was like when I took over.

"By the time I retired I'm not sure I was relating to them on either level anymore." John sighed.

"They had nothing but respect for you John." Nick assured him.

"Just don't forget like I did okay?"

"I have a shadow box behind my office door with my vest and I.D. badge to remind me."

"Good."

"Thanks for lunch." Nick nodded and headed out with Sam.

"I left you with a full plate Nick but I know you can handle it." John said watching him drive away.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick checked in with the labs for an update when he returned to his office, he commanded Sam to stay there then went to see Jerry.

"Hey Jer, make sure Rosie is off the schedule starting next Friday for at least three weeks."

"Three weeks?!? Director Stokes she can't possibly need that much time--"

"Her husband is having surgery, she needs to be there for that and his recovery." Nick cut him off.

"Isn't one week sufficient?" Jerry frowned.

"Are any of the crew on vacation or at conferences those weeks?"

"No." 

"Then we can work around her. Rich already knows, he'll make whatever adjustments are needed."

"Yes sir." Jerry replied stiffly.

Nick sighed and left for his office wondering if Jerry didn't have a thing against southerners too.

_Too bad bud because I am here to stay._

"There you are, Tommy has something on the boat explosion." Rich said meeting him half-way to his office.

"Okay, good. Oh, I cleared Rosie for three weeks, if she needs more let me know."

"I had already rearranged my schedule to get her coverage." Rich nodded as they walked into the trace lab.

"Know what this is director?" Tommy pointed to the items on the table with a smirk.

_Cap. Wire. Fuses. Yeah, Tommy, I know what it is._

"A bomb." Nick replied.

"Yeah." Tommy deflated. 

"I've seen and reconstructed a few in my career." He clapped Tommy back.

"Reassemble it and find out what you can about it. Someone killed these people, let's find out who." He ordered and left the trace lab.

"He's not a pencil pusher Tommy! He came straight from the field." Rich shook his head and they set to work on reassembling the bomb and looking for anything to identify the bomber.


	14. Chapter 14

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 14

It was the weekend and Nick decided to tackle some house chores he'd been putting off since buying the house.

After a quick breakfast and walk with Sam he set about tearing apart the guest room with the kitchen.

He removed the cabinets the started to dismantle the plumbing to the sink then used the dolly he'd borrowed from work to remove the refridgerator to the garage.

Wiping his brow he glanced at his watch, he'd been at it for several hours.

"Hello?"

"Unce Nick?"

Nick stepped into the hall and saw John and Cara.

"Hey guys, come on in." He called.

John and Cara walked into the nearly empty room.

"I hope you don't mind." John held up the house key Nick had given him so Cara could feed and walk Sam.

"We called the lab and Grace said you took the weekend off." He added.

"I needed to finally get this place together and I have my laptop to work later." Nick nodded.

"Well, it's lunchtime, we brought pizza." Cara said.

"Great, I'm starving! Thanks guys." Nick grinned and his stomach growled.

They all dug in hungrily then Cara took Sam outback to play with his ball.

"Anything on who attacked Eddie and the others?" Johh asked.

"No." Nick admitted with a sigh.

"They'll screw up, they always do. They brag about it or go after someone else and give you the evidence to identify them." John replied.

"I hope they don't go after anyone else John." Nick rubbed his neck.

"Hey, thanks for walking me through the meeting with Benedict and Stanton, so far it's gone well."

"Good, just keep doing what we went over." 

"Stanton says she gonna hire a laiason." Nick mentioned.

"That costs money, I wouldn't count on it." John clapped his shoulder.

"Don't spoil my hope man." 

John laughed and helped Nick clean up.

Nick showed him what he'd accomplished so far and the plans for the room.

"So what are you going to do with all the cabinets?"

"Put a few in the garage and donate the rest. I'll make a desk with filing cabinets at both ends along this wall and put a flat screen on that wall there." He pointed out.

"I think I'll buy a microwave for in here and a coffee maker too." 

"Sounds like it'll be a real office." John smiled then glanced at his watch, "we should get going, let you finish up in here."

"Hey dad, Sandra want to know if I can spend the night?" Cara joined them holding up her phone.

John hesitated.

"Gotta start giving her a little freedom." Nick said.

"Alright, but text me if you leave her house." 

"Okay." Cara rolled her eyes and texted Sandra back.

"Hey kiddo," Nick hugged her, "give him a break, he'll be worried for a while yet." He told her softly.

She looked at her dad and nodded.

"I'll see you two later." Nick said walking them out.

He returned to the guestroom and looked around making a mental list of things that needed to be done yet.

"No rush." He told himself, deciding he was done for the day he showered and headed to the hardware store getting the supplies he needed to cover the plumbing, sand, paint, boards for his desk and the filing cabinets to support them.

He purchased a t.v. , dresser and king sized bed at the furiture store which would allow the room to still be used as a guestroom when his family or friends visited.

He dropped the supplies in the room and sat on the couch to get some work done.

Seeing the e-mails from Cane and Tommy he opened Tommy's first reading that the bomb components were available at any hardware store.

No prints or DNA on them though.

Cane's told him that they had the marina video and that Kaela was going over it now.

He knew John had good people and he had to let them do their job.

Going over the case files he brought home the day before he checked the updates from the lab then typed up his summaries for his superiors.

 

Finishing his lab work around dinner time he did some more research on the orders Jerry had placed and found two more cases of the lab overpaying on equipment which he noted.

"What do you say we eat, take your walk and watch the UNLV game boy?" He asked closing his computer and placing all the files in his satchel and forgot work for the night.


	15. Chapter 15

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 15

Nick groaned as his cell phone went off.

4:17?

He picked the phone up and saw it was the lab.

"Stokes." He answered,"Damn it! Where?" He asked sitting up fully awake now. "I'm on my way." He quickly dressed and left the house.

 

"CSI Joyce is on the way to the hospital." The Sheriff told his when he arrived at the crime scene.

"How bad?"

"Medics think she'll be okay."

"Thank God." Nick breathed, anyone else hurt?"

"Fortunately no." The Sheriff replied.

Nick nodded and walked over to his team.

"Same as before?" He asked.

"Yes sir. We managed to return fire this time but didn't get them as far as we know." Bonita answered.

"I'm heading to the hospital, has her husband been notified?"

"I called him." Gayle answered as she arrived.

"Okay, good. Collect anything that even looks like evidence and process it." Nick ordered and left for the hospital.

 

Nick spotted Rob in the waiting room and walked to him.

"Rob I'm--"

Mister Joyce turned and sucker punched him.

"This is your fault! You talked her into going back!" Rob raged at him.

Tow orderlies stepped between them.

"You're not welcome here Director Stokes!" Rob sneered.

Nick turned and walked away, he stopped at the nurses desk requesting to be kept updated on CSI Joyce's condition.

 

Nick sat in his truck, head down, tears in his eyes.

_I failed her._

_I should have found these guys so they couldn't hit us again._

He hit the steering wheel several times then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He still had work to do so he headed back to the scene.

Nick helped collect evidence speaking very little except to give orders when needed.

The hospital called and he relayed that Shar would recover from her gunshot wound but would be hospitalized for a few more weeks to everyone's relief.

Nick was more determined than ever to get the people responsible for both attacks.


	16. Chapter 16

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 16

Nick walked into his office two weeks after the second attack and sat at his desk, he sorted through the mail and sighed seeing the business sized envelope.

He suspected what it was and opened it reading Sharla's letter of resignation.

He texted Gayle and Mal, by the time they arrived he was angry.

"Do we have anything to tell us who these sons of bitches are?!?"

"No." Mal answered with slumped shoulders.

Whoever killed Officer Lawson, shot Officer storm and Eddie and now Shar are probably laughing their asses off at us!

"Get out." Nick snapped at his supervisors and picked up one of the photo's behind his desk.

"Sir--"Gayle started.

"Close the door behind you." 

Gayle and Mal exchanged a look and left.

Gayle slammed the door shut on the way out fuming herself.

_What right did he have to be angry?!? They worked with Sharla for a year before Director Stokes ever showed up!_

_How could he possibly understand what this was like for them?!?_

 

_I should never have asked her to come back Rick, he lamented staring at his old team photo._

_I need to do something to find out who did this..._

"I need a plan." He said softly and placed the photo back on the cabinet then packed up and left his office.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're a hard man to track down." John said coming to stand beside Nick several hours after he'd left the lab.

"i needed time to think and plan." Nick replied staring out at the ocean.

"Plan?" John asked with the sinking feeling NIck was going to tell him he was quiting.

"How to catch these bastards." Nick turned to John, "I need your help."

"I'm listening." John gave him his full attention.

Nick sketched out his plan.

John shook his head and walked several feet away before facing him.

"That's insane! No Nick!"

"Lawson's dead! Eddie, Storm and Sharla were shot John! I don't want to see this happen a third time! Help me! Please."

John looked at him a long moment then sighed.

"What do you need me to do?"


	17. Chapter 17

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 17

"Did Director Stokes say why he wanted to meet us?" Chief Greenleaf asked as they waited in his office.

"He just said it was about the attacks." The Sheriff frowned.

"I guess we're about find out." The Chief said as Nick and John arrived.

Nick closed the door and the men sat on the couch.

"I have a plan to catch these guys...but you're not going to like it." Nick said.

Nick told them and waited for their reactions.

"Did he undergo a psychological evaluation before he was hired?" The Chief asked the Sheriff.

"You lived in Vegas too long Stokes." The Sheriff shook his head.

"Look, I thought it was insane too but Nick really thought this through." John replied.

"Have you ever done this before?" The Chief asked.

"Not personally but a colleague did once." Nick answered honestly, "none of us wants to see another shooting. This will work." 

The Chief and Sheriff looked at each other.

"Every precaution will be taken. You will follow our orders to the letter Director Stokes." The Chief eyed him.

"Agreed." Nick nodded.

"You're a hell of a gambler Stokes." The Sheriff sighed.

"Let's hope we don't come up snake eyes." John replied.


	18. Chapter 18

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 18

Two weeks after they agreed to Nick's plan...

Chief Greenleaf stood at the microphone in front of the assembled reporters.

"We're still working on leads at this time." He said.

"This is bullshit!" Nick snapped from behind him.

"Director!" The Sheriff warned as the press turned to them.

"No! There are punks out there targeting us! That's all you are PUNKS!" Nick pointed to the camera, "I've faced punks like you! We're gonna find out who you are then I am coming for you!" Nick threatened and stormed into the lab.

"As you can see we are all frustrated." Chief Greenleaf apologized and gave the Sheriff a look.

Sheriff Benedict hurried inside.

"Stokes!" 

Nick turned to him seething.

"Go home! A weeks suspension!" The Sheriff ordered as the crew looked on.

Nick opened his mouth.

"You say one more word and you are done here." The Sheriff said in a dangerously low voice.

Nick stormed past him and out the door.

"Get back to work." The Sheriff ordered and followed him out.

"You heard him." Jerry said and headed to his own office.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick drove home, parked in his driveway and stalked into his house slamming the door.

Once inside he took a breath and peeked out the blinds.

It had taken all his self control not to look for the drone following him.

The drone's purpose was to get the license plates of any cars following him from the lab.

_Sam is safe with Cara, John has my letters...just in case and the SOB's will find out that I live in this newly developed subdivision._

He looked across the street at the two completed houses with their lights on.

They were currently occupied by the police as were the half-completed houses around him.

The outside of the house he was in looked finished but the inside was months away from completion making it the perfect place to trap the murderer's.

"Stokes." He answered his cell phone.

' You see anything on your way in?' The Sheriff asked.

"No sir. The bastards aren't stupid but I bet they're arrogant."

' Well you certainly would have pushed that button.' The Sheriff chuckled.

"Let's hope they come after me and not my crew." 

' I've assigned extra people to them.'

"Thank you and thanks for setting this up." 

The Sheriff had gotten them the use of the development through a friend of his.

' I want these guys as much as you do Stokes.'

"Thank you sir."

' Let's hope they take the bait. Get some sleep.' The Sheriff ordered and hung up.

Nick sat down in the reclining chair, he'd sleep during the day since they liked to hit at night.

Closing his eyes he hoped the plan lured these punks after him.

_Another damn Jason McCann!_

_Fool me once, shame on you._

_Fool me twice..._

"I'll nail your ass!"

__

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

__

"So the gringo thinks we're punks eh amigo's? Find out where la CP bocazas (the mouthy cop) lives. We hit him at home."

__

The members of the Lobo's gang nodded and set to do their leaders bidding.

__

"No sabes el apuro han prestado heffe." (You do not know the trouble you have brought heffe), the leader said to the television repeating the press conference and Nick's outburst.

__

He picked up his uzi and checked the clip.

__

"El Puma will see to this personally."

__


	19. Chapter 19

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 19

The grave shift crew met in the breakroom.

"Suspended for a week, he was really pissed." Tawny Chang, level 2 CSI said.

"We all are but none of us have gone off like that." Beau Foster, level 3 CSI replied.

"Someone should talk to him." Mal looked at Gayle.

"Why me?" She glared at them.

She was still pissed at the Director for throwing she and Mal out of his office.

"You are the night shift Supervisor." Bonita smiled slightly.

"Fine!" She stalked out, "get back to work!" She called back.

The others chuckled and went back to their cases.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gayle stopped in front of the house and sighed.

The last time she was here was when they helped him move in, several months ago.

She didn't look forward to confronting her new boss, especially after his outburst a little while ago.

_Get it over with girl!_

She exited her car, strode through the low gate and knocked on the door.

"Director?" She called.

She waited several minutes then headed for her car.

_Either he's not home or he's avoiding me._

"Is Nick okay? We haven't seen him and Sam for a few days." Some kids asked coming up to her.

"Um..." She hesitated, "he's just busy."

"Well tell him to get unbusy." One of the kids replied.

"I'll pass that along." Gayle nodded and left frowning.

 

"Coming." John called and opened the door to find Gayle there.

"Do you know where Nick is?" She asked.

"I--"

"Hey dad, Sam and I...oh, hi Mrs. McClinn."

"Hello Cara." Gayle looked at Sam then John.

"Nick decided to go away for the week. He might have headed back to Vegas...to visit." John glanced at Cara and Gayle realized the young girl didn't know Nick had been suspended.

"Thanks." She nodded and went back to her car.

_Was he going to go back to Las Vegas and his old job?_

_That would leave Jerry in charge until they found a replacement...if they decided to replace Nick at all._

"Please come back Director Stokes." She begged, "otherwise one of us will kill Jerry for sure."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Gayle was here looking for you.'

"What'd you tell her?"

'That I think you went back to Vegas.'

"As long as she doesn't call them. I want them safely out of this John."

'I know. Thank you for that.'

"I'll text Sara, if Gayle does call they won't be worried and try to track me down. Thanks for letting me know."

'Sure thing. Stay safe.'

"Do my best. How's Sam?"

'Getting spoiled rotten.'

"Good. I'll talk to you later."

'Okay. Bye.'

"Bye." Nick hung up and sent a text to Sara.

**Hey Sar, full plate but taking a few days to relax up north. If anyone calls looking for me tell them I'm fine. Thanks.**

Nick blew out a breath hoping no one went any further looking for him.

His phone pinged and he shook his head seeing Sara's reply.

**What's really up Stokes?**

His old co-workers knew him way too welll.

**Nothing I can talk about. Just pass along what I said if they contact y'all, okay?**

**Okay, but we want the whole story when you can or else...**

**I promise. Thank Sar.**

**Are you okay?**

**Yeah.**

**Alright, call when you can.**

**I will. Bye.**

Sara replied with a raised hand emoji making him chuckle.

He put his phone away and waited to see what would happen when it got dark.

His preference was that this was over sooner rather than later.

The one thing Nick knew about himself was that he had a finite amount of patience.


	20. Chapter 20

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 20 

The shifts went about their business with Jerry breathing down their necks to cut costs and he cancelled all days off and Zoe Lee's long weekend.

Nick had served three days of his suspension so far and it felt like a lifetime for all of them.

Rich and Doc Tui had tried to brainstorm on how to get Nick back sooner.

"I've called the Sheriff several times but he's always out of the office." Rich sighed.

"More like he's ducking your calls." Doc frowned.

"I really like Nick. I wasn't sure who John was hiring so I looked him up. Do you know what happened to him in 2005?" Rich asked.

Doc Tui shook her head frowning

"You remember that CSI that was kidnapped?"

"Yeah, John was adament we never attended a scene without at least two officers keeping watch." Doc nodded then his eyes grew wide, "Rich are you saying that Nick was...?"

"The CSI? Yeah." He nodded.

"Damn, Al told me he was one of their's but never mentioned Nick by name."

"Keep it to yourself okay? I don't think anyone else has made the connection."

"Of course. I'm sure Nick wants this buried...bad choice of words." Doc Tui winced.

"We need him back." Rich said.

"Talk to Gayle and Mal, maybe if we all talk to the Sheriff..."

"Can't hurt." He agreed.

"Breaks over, get back to work." Jerry ordered and went on his way.

"We need Nick back now." Doc muttered and they left the break room.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thought you'd want to know, I've been innundated wih calls from your shift supervisors." The Sheriff told Nick as they ate dinner together that night.

"Why? Are they okay?" Nick asked concerned.

The Sheriff chuckled and shook his head.

"What?" Nick frowned at him.

"They want you back Stokes." The Sheriff wiped his hands, stood and left to resume his watch.

Nick slowly cleaned up thinking about what the Sheriff had said.

_They want me back._

He smiled at the thought of them requesting his "suspension" be lifted after only a few days.

_I'll be back guys once we catch these SOB's._

_I'm doing everything I can to make it safe for you out there again._


	21. Chapter 21

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 21

It had been five days and there had been no movement against Nick so far.

_Two more days then I'll talk to a reporter and lash out again_ , he thought as he looked at his watch and saw it was midnight.

'All units, black Pontiac approaching. Adam. Lincoln. X-ray. 773. Belongs to a Manuel Garcia, known gang banger with the Lobos.' Nick heard on the police radio.

_Maybe I won't have to wait any longer_ , Nick thought and took a deep breath, slipping out the back door and through the privacy fence into the next yard where the Sheriff was positioned.

Several minutes later gunfire lit up "Nick's" house.

"All units wait until they stop firing." The Sheriff ordered.

 

El Puma emptied his uzi into the house and grinned as his men fired as well tearing up the front.

"Open your mouth heffe and these are the consequences!" He called as they stopped firing.

"POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" The Sheriff called and they swarmed the gang.

El Puma reached for his back up gung when he felt a weapon against his head.

"Drop it punk!" Nick ordered slamming him into the car and taking it from him.

An officer patted him down and handcuffed him.

"It is not over heffe." Garcia sneered at Nick.

"Well amigo, your crib is being raided as we speak...and it sure as hell is over for you boys." Nick retorted as the gang leader was led away.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick stood outside the hospital room a long moment then knocked softly on the door the next morning.

"Director Stokes?" Mrs. Juarez asked surprised to see him.

"We got them." 

Mrs. Juarez crossed herself and walked over giving him a tearful hug.

"Gracias. Gracias." She wept.

"You're welcome." He replied hugging her back.

"I did not believe but you gave me your word Director Stokes." Mister Juarez shook his hand.

"Come, tell our Eduardo." Mrs. Juarez left him to their grandson's bedside.

Nick laid a hand on the still unconscious man's shoulder.

"We got them Eddie. We got 'em." Nick gently squeezed his shoulder, "you come out of this coma and get better. That's an order CSI Kyle from you director." Nick said, nodded to his grandparents and left the room.

He found a chair and sat down tiredly.

It was 8:30 in the morning and all the weight of the shootings had finally left his shoulders but the adrenaline had wore off from last night as well leaving him drained.

"Are you alright?" 

He looked up to a see a blonde woman in scrubs.

"Uh...yeah....Doctor...?"

"Frasier. I was Mister Kyle's attending in the E.R."

"Oh, thank you for saving him."

"You're welcome but he fought the fight not me." She smiled.

"He's still hanging on." Nick nodded.

"He is. When was the last time you ate?" She asked looking him over.

"Last night. I'm just tired doc, been living on adrenaline for a few days."

"I prescribe a good meal and a lot of sleep."

"Okay doc. " Nick chuckled and rose.

"Good. Take care of yourself Mister...?"

"Stokes. Nick Stokes." He smiled.

"Mister Stokes." She nodded and smiled back then was paged over the p.a. system and left him.

Nick smiled as he headed for the elevator.


	22. Chapter 22

A Matter of Trust

Chapter 22

Nick walked into John's house and the other man steered him to the table placing a plate of pancakes in front of him.

"Eat."

Nick smiled tiredly as he pet Sam.

"Hey boy, sorry I haven't been around for a week." He said and dug into breakfast.

"The Chief is holding a press conference at 1 p.m. to say they got them." John informed him.

"I'm going home, take a shower and go to bed." 

"The Chief will want you there." John smiled knowing Nick's reply.

"The Chief and Sheriff can handle it on their own." Nick answered and finished eating.

"You did good Nick." John squeezed his shoulder.

"I'll see you later." Nick bade and headed home with Sam where he did take his shower and fall into bed tired after unplugging his phone and turning his cell phone off.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick slept until 3 p.m. then rose, did some house chores and finally listened to his messages.

He was shocked to see over two dozen messages waiting for him.

' You should have been at the press conference Director Stokes.' Chief Greenleaf said, ' I wish I could have ducked out. Good work.'

Nick smiled hearing the humor in his voice.

' Your suspension wasn't real Stokes. Get your ass back to work tomorrow.' The Sheriff ordered, ' I'll spring for lunch at Whalers at 1:30.'

"See you then boss." Nick chuckled.

' So you set yourself up to be a target?!? Call me Stokes!' Sara ordered.

John must have filled them in.

Greg, Morgan and Russell all left the same basic message as well.

' Hey Nicky, are you trying to have the shortest career in Director history? Thank God you're okay. Don't take those kind of chances. We lost Warrick...we can't lose you too. Call me.'

"I'm sorry Cath." He said quietly.

He had over a dozen messages from his co-workers relieved it was all a sting and happy he was okay and coming back.

After feeding himself and Sam they took a walk, to all the neighborhood kids delight, then returned home and Nick returned his friends calls over the next few hours then he and Sam headed to bed where Nick set his alarm for 3 a.m.


	23. Chapter 23

A Matter of Trust 

Chapter 23

Nick walked into the lab and frowned not seeing Marsha at the reception desk.

As he passed the labs he noticed they were all empty too.

No Andi in trace, no Blake in fingerprints...their computer guru Ben wasn't around either.

"Where the hell is everyone?!?" He said aloud and looked at his phone as it pinged with a text message from Gayle to come to the breakroom.

"WELCOME BACK!" The grave shift team yelled and clapped laughing.

Nick shook his head and smiled.

"Coffee." Leo Campbell, their questionable documents expert put the mug into his hand, "the good stuff you sprang for." He smirked

"Gee thanks Leo." Nick rolled his eyes and took a drink.

"We're glad you're back boss." Beau Foster, level 2 CSI grinned, "but damn you went all in! Is that a Vegas thing?"

"Maybe so." Nick shrugged.

"I'm just gald it worked and no one is in danger now." Nick added.

Gayle and Mal's phones went off.

"Go on, get back to work." Nick motioned and they all left save for his supervisors who he held up a moment.

"I owe you both an apology. I was frustrated and took it out on you . It was uncalled for. I'm sorry."

"I was pretty pissed at you." Gayle admitted, "but you put yourself on the line to protect us. Thank you."

"We're glad and lucky that John chose you." Mal smiled.

"Thank you both. Go on." Nick replied and watched them hand out assignments as he sipped his coffee.

He noticed he held a new mug and chuckled at the writing on it, 'Badass Boss!'

With a shake of his head he walked to his office and settled in to work.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Jerry frowned seeing the day shift crew congregated around Nick's door as he arrived for work.

His open door, Jerry realized.

"Don't do it again!" 

He heard Supervisor Emmanuelle say then watched the team depart and saw Nick behind his desk.

"Good morning Jerry." Nick greeted.

"You're back?" Jerry frowned.

"That I am." Nick nodded.

"How? Your suspension..."

"You didn't see the press conference yesterday morning? My suspension was all a ruse to draw the shooters out. It worked like a charm Jer."

"Oh."

Nick rose and walked over to him.

"Anymore orders I need to sign off on?"

"No." Jerry turned and walked out of his office.

"Oh, Jerry..."

The man turned back.

"Rosie will be back tomorrow, may sure she's on the schedule." Nick looked at him.

"Yes sir." Jerry silently fumed, he'd fired her when she refused to cancel her three weeks of leave when Nick had been 'suspended'.

 

"I'm the boss Jerry, I decide who is hired and fired." Nick murmured happy to have things back to normal.

 

The End 2018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this concludes this story but we still have an embezzler (s?) to catch which Nick sets out to do in the next story entitled We All Fall Down, but Nick may not finish his investigation when he reopens an old San Diego case.
> 
> If you guys like these San Diego stories let me know, I have some other fics in that universe I can type and post plus I have a multi-story crossover with MacGyver (of course! lol)
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading guys.


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